Josh Whitehead / The SWC Sun
A Runway Success—SWC’s ambitious Fashion Club wants the college to establish a fashion major.
By Valeryah Lara-Urrea
For the first time in Southwestern College history, fashion is in fashion.
SWC’s Fashion Club has stitched together a community of creatives eager to dress up the campus and the broader community.
Founded by Samantha Rodriguez, the Fashion Club debuted in the spring and has added to its collection ever since.
“I have been modeling for about five years,” she said. “All I ever wanted was to be a model. The more I got into the industry in San Diego (County), the more I started finding out about myself.”
Rodriguez said she wants to demonstrate that the fashion industry is a viable career.
“My main goal with the Fashion Club is to get us recognized and introduce fashion to Chula Vista. It’s not (prominent) here and the governing board is talking about introducing a fashion major at Southwestern. I feel like I know so many people who want to pursue fashion, but they can’t because there (is no major).”
Fashion Club strives to bring together several aspects of the fashion world, said Rodriguez. Members collaborate on photo shoots, runway-style showcases, design projects and styling sessions.
Natalie B. Hill, head of design for the Fashion Club, said she feels right at home.
“I’ve always been kind of on the design side,” she said. “My family came from designers from New Mexico. There’s rich family history of carpenters, jewelry makers and engineers, so I think that all (passed on) to me. I’ve been drawing since I could pick up a pen. The moment my grandpa showed me how to draw a stick figure, it just took off from there.”
Hill said fashion is a unifier.
“I think it’s really cool that there’s a Fashion Club,” she said. “It’s something you wouldn’t expect from a community college. Southwestern is such a melting pot of different types of people of various walks of life, from different cultures and backgrounds.”
Photography is an essential part of the fashion industry and the club has built a connection with photography students. Treasurer Juan Pablo Gonzalez is a photographer.
“Samantha asked me if I was interested in joining,” he said. “I joined originally doing things more on the business side, then started with marketing and helping out with social media and helping plan out events. Then I started photography, so I got to take photos for the club.”
Gonzalez said the alliance has paid dividends.
“We’ve done some collaborations with the Photography Club where we got a bunch of our models’ professional portraits taken,” she said. “We also had a runway workshop with our models. We recently won the Best New Club Award and Best Performance at the Festival of Nations.”
A fall fashion show is in the works, said Gonzalez, and the club has ambitious plans for the spring as membership continues to grow.
“Fashion changes but style endures,” said the legendary Coco Chanel. Rodriguez said she hopes the Fashion Club will endure and open the eyes of the community to a world of creativity and beauty.
